Your visa represents permission to apply to enter
the United States. Most foreign nationals require a valid visa to be admitted to the
United States. If you have a visa that has expired or will expire, and you wish
to travel internationally, you may apply to revalidate or renew your visa while
remaining in the United States. You may also choose to apply for a new
visa at a
U.S. embassy or consulate abroad that processes nonimmigrant visa
applications.

If you hold a visa in the E, H, I, L, O, and P visa category, you may apply
for visa revalidation in the same visa category without leaving the country.
This process is called revalidation, reissuance or renewal of your visa.
The revalidation application is sent to the U.S. Department of State’s Visa
Office.

To be eligible for visa revalidation, your visa must have
less than 60 days of validity, or be expired for less than one year. If you
send your visa for revalidation with more than 60 days of validity, or if it has
been expired for more than one year, your visa
will be returned without revalidation. You must also have the same nationality
as when your previous visa was issued.

You are ineligible for visa revalidation if you are a
national of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan, the seven
countries currently designated as state sponsors of terrorism. Applicants from
these countries must apply for new visas at a
U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

The following visa categories can not be revalidated
while in the United States:

Visa issuance reciprocity fee, if applicable. Please
consult the
Visa Reciprocity Tables to determine if you must pay a visa issuance
reciprocity fee.

Nationals of India, please note:
As of October 11, 2003, there is a reciprocal visa issuance fee in the H, L,
O, and P categories of $50 per applicant. Reciprocity fees are in addition
to the $100 visa application processing fee that each applicant must pay.

Nationals of the United Kingdom, please note:
There is a reciprocal visa issuance fee in the E-2 and L-2 categories of
$105 per applicant. Reciprocity fees are in addition to the $100 visa
application processing fee that each applicant must pay.

Form
DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application for each applicant, with each
question completed in English and signed (a parent should sign for children
under age 14);

Form
DS-157 Supplementary Nonimmigrant Visa Application for all male
applicants between the ages of 16 and 45, regardless of nationality, with
each question completed in English and signed.

Your passport, with a visa in the same category as you
are requesting, that is valid at least six months beyond the visa
application date (including Visa Office processing time). If more than one
person is included in the passport, each person applying for a visa must
submit a visa application. The passport must include your most recent E, H,
I, L, O, or P visa. The passport must contain a blank, unmarked visa page
for each U.S. visa to be placed in the passport, as each Machine Readable
Visa (MRV) covers a full passport page;

The original or a certified copy of Form I-94,
Arrival-Departure Record annotated by the Department of Homeland Security,
Customs and Border Protection (formerly INS) immigration inspector from your
most recent admission to the U.S. Please staple the I-94 to a page in your
current passport.

A prepaid courier service airbill and envelope or a
self-addressed stamped envelope for return of the passport and other
documents. Write your address as the “from” address on the airbill or the
self-addressed envelope. On the airbill, write your courier company account
number or provide a valid credit card number.

If the spouse or children of the principal alien are
applying separately from the principal alien, each must submit all required
documentation, as well as certified copies of the principal alien’s current visa
and I-94.

Payment of visa revalidation fees may be made by bank
draft, corporate check, or money order, payable to the U.S. Department of State.
The Visa Office does not accept payment by cash, credit card, or personal check. Payment for the visa application processing fee and the visa issuance
reciprocity fee, if applicable, may be combined in one bank draft, corporate
check, or money order. A family may submit one bank draft, corporate check, or
money order for all visa application processing fees and visa issuance
reciprocity fees. Payment must be drawn on a U.S. bank and must be in U.S.
currency.

U.S. Postal Service

All Courier Services

Processing of a visa revalidation application currently takes between
2 and 4 months from the date you submit your application.

The Visa Office will not expedite visa re-issuance of a visa. If you
anticipate an urgent need to travel, you should apply for your visa at a U.S.
consulate or embassy abroad. If you submitted an application for visa
revalidation and learn that you must travel urgently, you may withdraw your visa
revalidation application.

Your passport with the newly issued visa and other
documents (I-94s, employment letters, I-797s, etc.) will be returned to you via
your self-addressed, stamped envelope or prepaid courier airbill and courier
envelope. Make a note of your airbill or other tracking number if you want to
contact the courier for status information.

If you have a valid visa in the appropriate category but
have changed your employer since the issuance of your visa, you do not need to
get a new visa just to reflect the name of your current employer. You may
reenter the United States by showing your visa (even though it shows your
previous employer) and the valid I-797 Notice of Approval from your new
employer. The State Department’s Visa Office will not revalidate a visa to
reflect a change of employer unless the visa will expire in sixty days or less.

If your application does not meet all of the Visa Office’s
criteria for revalidation, or if there is any other reason why your application
is not clearly approvable for revalidation, your visa revalidation application
may be denied. You would then have to apply for a new visa at a
U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.

You must include all required documents at the time of
submission, or your visa revalidation application will be denied. The Visa
Office may also deny any visa revalidation application if the application is not
clearly approvable, based on the judgment of the State Department official. If
the Visa Office determines that an application is not clearly approvable, you
will be required to apply for a visa at a
U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.

If the Visa Office cannot revalidate your visa, your
passport and other documentation will be returned to you using your airbill/courier
envelope or self-addressed stamped envelope. You will receive a form stating
the reason for denial, or what documents are required to continue your
application. Follow the instructions carefully, and resubmit your application
to the address on the form. If your application is refused, you must submit a
new DS-156 and photo and the DS-157 when you resubmit the complete application
packet.

If the Visa Office informs you that your application for
visa revalidation cannot be processed in the Visa Office, you must make a new
visa application at a
U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. You will be required to pay a new
nonimmigrant application processing fee.

If you paid a visa issuance reciprocity fee but the Visa
Office cannot revalidate your visa, the reciprocity fee will be refunded by the
U.S. Treasury Department. The $100 nonimmigrant visa application fee is not
refundable.